But yeah, can only really see Carlos being able to beat the 
of Melbourne Park, x10 AO Champion (he’s hungry for No. 11!) And yeah smokey in Medvedev, played a few Grand Slam finals together now, with the Joker coming out on top, but the Russian famously got the better of him in 2021 at Flushing Meadows (and stopped Djoker’s calendar ‘Grand Slam’).
5 Likes
The speed off Carlos forehand is crazy. Fastest forehand of the comp just hit and even the opponent stood back like WTF
3 Likes
I think Nine made a mistake airing Kecmanovic v Alcaraz on the main channel tonight, the Zverev v Norrie match (which only just finished- would’ve had 90min from 7pm) was absolutely amazing, one of the matches of this AO, even better than last night, 4hrs+, 5 sets, match tiebreak.
Yes they had to plan as Zverev v Norrie could’ve been over much earlier and they wanted to highlight Mr Alcaraz, but this is a mismatch, he’s going to wrap by 9pm aedt in straight sets.
Nine’s main channel could be very close to Seven’s tonight or even at risk of losing for the first time since I think two Fridays ago… However 9Gem’s presumably huge share thanks to that match (which was going since after 4pm this arvo and promoted during Alcaraz tonight) might come to Nine’s rescue to put them over the line. Save for another massive share from like 7Two and 7mate.
@OnAir kind of tipped this earlier today when he said tonight’s line-up appeared “weak” and also predicted Zverev v Norrie might be the match of the day and should’ve been in prime time somewhere. Probably Azarenka too, but instead to satisfy China theirs is second tonight and the former’s was this morning. Even the RLA crowd and commentators seem bored, rather silent this evening.
Anyway, hopefully this ill schedule won’t happen again and today was a one off. As I mentioned earlier today, Nine’s wish granted last night, which turned out better than expected (bar the Demon loss) and a mammoth 50% share almost nullifies tonight.
1 Like
Alcaraz did wrap the match in straight sets, just after 9pm, beating Kecmanovic 6-3, 6-3, 6-0.
3 Likes
Although, around this time ~9:30pm (or a bit before) is when the second night session is usually scheduled (normally women) and for pretty much the first time this tournament we’re going to see Zheng v Dodin start on time in a still decent timeslot, not 10:30pm or 11:30pm etc when many leave and stadium is near empty, minimal watching on TV and low interest and often criticism the next day, like multiple times last week.
Nine could actually be saved tonight, with the still 9pm finish (that’s not extremely early - we’ve seen bigger blowouts, earlier finishes and lesser names at 7:15pm before), with this women’s match perhaps drawing more interest given the earlier time especially if turns into a 3 set thriller, the filler Alcaraz and Courier interview plus Hundred Andy Lee with Alcarez and the 9Gem epic earlier with Zverev and Norrie.
Sam Smith just commented on and laughed with Jelena and Molik about the earlier timeslot and feeling different!
2 Likes
3 Likes
It would appear this is going to be a very late night on Rod Laver unless they move play to another court.
This Novak game will likely go to at least 4 sets, only just finished the first, then Women’s game up next, then another Men’s Game after.
Likely 3/4am finish again.
They would be better off moving the Womebs next door.
6 Likes
Currently watching the Djokovic vs Fritz game on Nine Imparja at a pub in the Sydney CBD!
Loving seeing Alice Springs ads in the centre of Sydney again!
Beer + tennis + VAST TV in Sydney = lots of fun for a sports loving media nerd like me.
Only downside, no HD.
2 Likes
I agree, both Margaret Court Arena and Kia Arena are now available after scheduled matches had all finished.
3 Likes
It’s almost becoming the talk of the night (apart from the epic matchs themselves), lots mentioning it online, popular tennis scribe Jose Morgardo on X was asked about moving to another court and he said “nop” [sic] (unless that was an educated guess rather than fact).
Wonder if one of both of Sabalenka v Krejikova and Sinner v Rublev? Unless Joker wraps shortly… I reckon if it gets past 10:30pm, they’ll consider moving Sinner v Rublev to Margaret Court Arena, but anything before that (even if a long match) could be ok to wait for RLA as might still be over by 1am if lucky (which is still very very late but way more tolerable for many than 4 or 5am 
)
x2 back-to-back 3hr+ quarter finals already and both were meant to be day time 
1 Like
Men’s should start at around 1030 I think. Novak finishing off just now. Next one shouldn’t go for that long. It’s the last match which will probably e a looooong one.
3 Likes
The one I’ve and no doubt many been waiting for! 
Ewwww Kyrgios interviewing Djokovic.
Ewwwwwwwww.
6 Likes
Djokovic won in four sets.
2 Likes
Hopefully it won’t happen and it probably won’t again, at least to that extreme, but there is a chance this upcoming women’s QF tonight goes very long (look at what happened earlier today between Kostyuk and Gauff 3hrs+!)
Assuming Sabalenka and Krejikova aren’t on RLA for some minutes yet (probably closer to 9pm)… That’d be close to midnight before Sinner and Rublev even get close to stepping onto court.
Yes they need the next one off in a very quick hour plus a 30 min changeover to at least get the last game done by 1-2 ish.
Next one needs to be a 2 set quick one.
Chances of all this happening though are slim I’d say
1 Like
Few Aussies left in the doubles draws:
Men’s Doubles
Matthew Ebden (AUS) pairing Rohan Bopanna (IND)
Women’s Doubles
Storm Hunter pairing Katerina Siniakova (CZE)
Mixed Doubles
Jaimee Fourlis pairing Andrew Harris
Marc Polmans pairing Olivia Gadecki
Both Mixed Doubles pairs could be knocked out tomorrow, Fourlis/Harris playing 3rd seeds Su-Wei Hsieh and Jan Zielinski, while Polmans/Gadecki are playing 2nd seeds Neal Skupski and Desirae Krawczyk
Hopefully a Fourlis/Harris v Polmans/Gadecki final!!
6 Likes
Aryna Sabalenka has defeated Barbora Krejcikova in one hour and 11 minutes, so the men (Jannik Sinner and Andrey Rublev) won’t be too far away. Anticipating a start time of no earlier than 10:45pm
3 Likes
I’d think we can get this Sinner/Rublev game underway before 11pm. If they go the 5 sets we could be looking at 2am-3am+.
While I personally love the late night games that go past midnight, I do understand that it’s not ideal for the players (or support staff)- therefore a curfew after which you resume the later the next day would be fair enough in my view. I think 1:30am or 2am would be a fairly reasonable time.
On a lighter note, I do hope that the Sabalenka fans with the A-R-Y-N-A shirts don’t get their seats mixed up at any stage, that could be awkward…
4 Likes